SHIPS' OFFICERS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1243, 27 September 1911, Page 2

SHIPS' OFFICERS.

DISSATISPIED WITH THEIR AWARD, "WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF 'HIE COURT," "No more Court for us!" This is what several members of (ho Merchant , Service Guild trading on sinnll coasting- vesfoJs are saying just now with unconcealed disgust, and the Court they refer to is the Arbitration Court. They decided tome while ago (o put' the law in action to improve llieir conditions of work which they considered needed amelioration. A conference was held with tho shipowners, but ihe two sides could not come to tenna and (ho cafe went to tho Arbitration Court. The guild proposed lo go ou with the case so as In embrace niaslers as well as males of small coasters of loss than a thousand tons, but tho Court directed that the dispute be divided, and Ihe officers' enso only was heard. They asked for wages at Iho rate of £K per month, payment for overtime worked at fhe rate of 2s. (id. per hour, 11 days leave on full sea pay every vear and a victualling allowance when llieir ships ware laid up in porl. * Practically only one of these principal demands was grnnt/ecl—thp annual lenve was increa<cd tiom ten days to fourteen days. Tho officers affected are said to be" so dis?o4 S, blc " Sh ' ike Et>Oms " IOrD tllan No Overtime, ,"91 co V«o we think (he award is .un. us, snid a member of the guild tt. a Dominion reporter. "] s if f air that „„, oliicer should be called upon to work twonly hours out of fhe twonty-four?, I hat s what the award fa) - s . A man may. >o worked for hvclve hours at a ttrctcliV (hen he must be given a four hours' re<t unless the safely of flic snip demands, his remaining on duly, aud after his', rest he may bo worked on for Iho ro- : reaming eight hours of fhe day; twenty' hours out U f the Iwenty-four and no extra' pay for it. \\e don't object to the provision about the safety of tho «hin< no decent officer Would over rai<=a a rm-stion about how lon- h<, was to work if his presenco on deck was really necessary U> navigate the ship in Dad weather nu a dangerous coast. What, wo object to is being required to stay on duly working ea'rso and such like for very lone; hour? without payment of anv find. Twenty hours is a day's work thn't lots men on coasters have put in very The sailors are paid for overtime? Vs, for every hour worked in'oscrss' of eight per day they get Is. 3d. Tho oliicer who directs them gets nothing. 'In. busy times the men, with their overtime, get very nearly as much as tho officers who also have to work (he extra time, Uhv, if the ofheere' wages wore worked' out they would not hi some weeks amount i I , l i o !',°. t i lan s,l - on "'•• a" liour. Wo (ion t think Hint is good enough. There is this about it, too: (ho men are very otten not continuously on dtitv even oh their watch on deck if there 'is nothing much to do. Sometimes ft sailor will do us two hours at the wheel, and then go below to sleep for two hours when it 'is his watch on deck. But the officer must stnyon duty." May Come Ashore. "Yes, there is a very considerable pros- ' pect of our coming ashore. We want to do what s fair as long as we can, nud wo' (ion t intend to do anything in a hurrv, but you can take it that we are not sati'sneii to let matters remain as they are. Iho secretary has written to the "Mini*, wr lor Justice, pointing out that the award isn t fair, and if we can't get any redress wo may come ashore. While a number of steamers wore laid up in iwrt; m the recent storm, this was discussed, tiecly, and at one time it looked as if a stnko was coming. i "Look at this-award.—Tho wages 'they have allowed are Xl 5 a mouth for first mates and .£l2 a month for second motes, inese are the same as we are getting, except that Eome first mates get .£l6 a month. We are almost worse off than before. .Iho Court gave • n victualling allowance of 4s. a day when vessels are' aid up, but they added a proviso that this should not lie given if the vessel wag laid up in her homo port. This nulliho? the whole clause, for a ship is never laid up except in her homo port. They have also provided that' an officer under transter shall be entitled to a first-class passage for himself and his fnmily'to hia new home port, but he must travel inone of the ships of his own company, mit only one or two of our coasters a'ro allowed, to carry passengers. The .Court showed that it didn't know anything about our class of ships: One member of it is a lawyer, another is a draper, and the third is a bpilermnUers how coul3 they know anything about it? "Anyhow, we've, had enough of the Court. Wo had intended to go for a Dominion award, but we don't want any moro of this sort. The sailors want more money and better conditions, and vou can Ijo pretty sure they won't, go to 'the -purt. . I think there is likely to be a Dig :trouble in. our coastal shipping very Those opinions were shared bv moro than one otliccr affected, and they all agreed that a strike was by no means out of the question. SHIPOWNERS RETICENT. Members of the Shipowners' Federation, when interviewed by a reporter on the matter, were all dubious as to-the wisdom oi their saying anything about tho case. ?.° '",''. as *" llr, y aro concerned, they regard the.dispute, as ended, and they aro not anxious to provoke fresh trouble bv entenng upon a controversy. They" took it for granted that tho officers would not Wo.satisfied having failed to improve their conditions of work materially bv appealing to tho Court, but they (the shipowners) did not seem to think tho oliicors would strike, as (hey threatened to do. In any case, the shipowners would not publicly discuss the merits of tho ca f •','! , something more definite was submitted to them by the officers.